Dimmesdale Character Analysis

A detailed Summary of Dimmesdale Character Analysis

The Scarlet Letter Interpretive Essay (#1)

We all have sinned. Whether it is a minor sin or a major sin, one thing is for sure; our sins always come with consequences. The price that we pay for our sins can be the guilt within ourselves or punishment we receive from others. The consequence of sin is extensively shown in Nathaniel Hawthorne's romance, The Scarlet Letter. The "orthodox" or "Puritan" interpretation of The Scarlet Letter is that people's sins have an everlasting effect on the sinners, and that sin leads to the consequence of suffering. Even if a sin is forgiven, the sinner will always have to deal with the consequences as a result of his or her decision. There are three main characters in the novel that sin and experience the consequences of their actions. Hester sins by committing adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. The actions of their sin consequently bring them an illegitimate child. Chillingworth's sin is the worst sin commited in the novel. He violated the sanctity of the human heart. Chillingworth tortures Dimmesdale mentally and physically for a long time, and eventually kills Dimmesdale by draining him of life. Reverend Dimmesdale sins when he commits adultery with Hester. He feels even guiltie

'What is it that haunts and tempts me thus?' cried the minister to himself, at length, pausing in the street, and striking his hand against his forehead. 'Am I mad? Or am I given over utterly to the fiend? Did I make a contract with him in the forest, and sign it with my blood? And does he now summon me to its fulfillment, by suggesting the performance of every wickedness which his most foul imagination can conceive' (149).

In conclusion, when one sins, the consequences of that sin do not go away, they remain with the person often haunting them of his or her past. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale suffers the mental and physical consequences of his sin. Dimmesdale physically tortures himself as a way of punishment to make up for the fact that he had not publicly confessed. Dimmesdale is mentally tortured by himself but also by Chillingworth, whose life goal is to seek psychological revenge upon Dimmesdale.

Dimmesdale not only experienced physical torment for his sin, he also experienced psychological suffering. His mental instabilities caused him to be able to relate everyday occurrences in life to the sin he committed, which caused him to think about his sin and feel his guilt incessantly. At one point, Dimmesdale is standing on the scaffold and sees a red meteor in the shape of an "A" go across the sky. The people of the town believe it is for Governor Winthrop spirit, meaning that he has become an angel. Only Dimmesdale believes the "A" is the scarlet letter flying through the sky. "We impute it, therefore, solely to the disease in his own eye and heart, that the minister, looking upward to the zenith, he held there the appearance of an immense letter, -the letter A, - marked out in the lines of dull red light" (107). He cannot allow himself to think of anything different, his obsession with his sin and the scarlet letter consume him. A large part of Dimmesdale's mental torment is due to Chillingworth. For example, when Hester is at the Governor's mansion with Dimmesdale, Dimmesdale defends Hester rights to keep Pearl, and Chillingworth comments, " 'You speak, my friend, with a strange earnestness' said Old Roger Chillingworth, smiling at him"(79). This quote shows how Chillingworth tries to manipulate Dimmesdale's mind

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1537
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English